The Yoda Effect – How ‘Star Wars’ Helped Me Understand My Business Better

The Yoda Effect – How ‘Star Wars’ Helped Me Understand My Business Better

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of “Star Wars.” Back then, there were only three movies — “A New Hope,” “Return of the Jedi,” and “The Empire Strikes Back” — and my friends and I had a running debate over which was the best.

We could quote the films by heart, and I was sucked in by their artistry. I liked to imagine myself as Luke Skywalker, saving Princess Leia and battling Darth Vader. When we turned 19, some of my friends even got Star Wars tattoos. (Considering how awful the new films turned out to be, I still thank God I didn’t.)

As much as I loved “Star Wars” then, I had no way of knowing that decades down the road it would shape how I understand my business.

content & commerce summit 2016

 

In 2016, I went to a digital marketing conference in Orlando, Florida, called Content and Commerce, and listened to a lecture by StoryBrand CEO and business guru Donald Miller. He made a brilliant “Star Wars” analogy that left me floored, and I still think about it today.

skywalker x yodaBasically, Miller said that, like my childhood self, most businesses like to imagine themselves as Luke Skywalkers, the heroes of their stories.

It’s tempting to want to be the one in the spotlight, taking on your competition, but in reality, Miller thought businesses should think of their clients as Luke Skywalkers and themselves as Yodas.

If you want to succeed, he said, look at your company as a wise, skillful guide, there to help your clients and point them in the right direction.

“While I might be Yoda to you, when it comes to running your business, it’s up to you to be the guide for your patients.”

It was the perfect analogy. From my perspective, it’s not LASIK Marketing Agency that’s the hero of the story — it’s ophthalmologists like you! You’re the ones out there doing the hard work. We’re just here to give you words of wisdom and put you on the path toward success.

One of the key pieces of advice I give my clients now is to think about their own companies in terms of Miller’s analogy. Because, while I might be Yoda to you, when it comes to running your business, it’s up to you to be the guide for your patients.

They’re Luke Skywalkers fighting for better vision, and you’re Yoda, helping them along the way.

The truth is, if you try to play the hero in what is really your patient’s journey, you won’t end up with many patients. Everything else about your brand needs to show patients that you’re the guide, not the hero.

Far too many doctors use their website’s front page to talk about the procedures they’ve done and the awards they’ve won — not only is that boring, but it looks like they’re shouting “Look how great I am!” when they should say “Look how much I can help you!”

The patient should feel like your business is all about them. If you can pull that off with passion, enthusiasm, and energy, you’ll have happier customers, better reviews, and more referrals.

When you’re selling a procedure like LASIK, it’s important to reassure your patients they’re in a safe place, and everything is going to be okay.

I learned that firsthand when I was working alongside my brother, both in the office and the operating room. I figured out how to walk every patient though the procedure with bottomless empathy for their fears, hold shaky hands in the operating room, and follow up with kindness and courtesy.

I firmly believe that care, which we implemented at King LASIK from the top-down, is what helped us become one of the nation’s busiest clinics.

If you put patient-focused initiatives into practice, we can help you do the same.

One of the easiest ways to get started is by scanning your website’s front-page copy and counting up the number of times the word “you” shows up. If it’s only one or two, it’s time to refocus your language on the patient.

To help you, we offer a free 10-minute website audit to potential clients, where we’ll look over your site for the five things every medical website needs, including client-facing language.

If you’re ready to start earning your patients’ trust, request one on LasikMarketingAgency.com today.

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Michael King
Michael King

Michael King is the founder of LASIK Marketing Agency. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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